The Illusion of Living
by VerySpecialSnowflake
Summary: Four Sillyvision employees uncover a book that their boss, Joey Drew, has been writing.
1. Chapter 1

**Before I begin, I'd like to give some credit to kade32 on , who authored** _ **Bendy and The Ink Machine: The Novelization**_ **and gave me the idea to pair Susie Campbell and Henry together.**

It was hard to believe that Sammy Lawrence, at the height of his career as music director, would start falling for one of his employees. As much as he would like to call himself sick for noticing her after years of working alongside her, he couldn't say that he feels much remorse. Susie Campbell was an attractive woman with an even more attractive talent- a singing voice. They were both artistic people, and with Sammy's lyrical gift and Susie's singing gift, he felt that they would make quite a duo. That idea crept into Sammy's mind far before he ever started having feelings for her.

No, Sammy's feelings were brand new, and he knew what they were the moment he felt something. These feelings were no strangers to him. One could even argue that they were old friends, ready to be entertained by him once again. Sammy was a bit of a hopeless romantic, and while he was bashful about the fact, he had his fair share of workplace crushes. At this job, he had feelings for at least four women around the studio. Susie was the fifth. However, Sammy's previous experiences with workplace crushes were never so convenient. She worked right in his department, and since he had power over her in the chain of command, he could have readily asked her out whenever he wanted.

However, Sammy knew his place. He was her superior, and superiors were not supposed to ask out their employees out on dates. There was a standard of professionalism to be held between Sammy and the people he was responsible for, and a workplace relationship would likely not keep that standard.

He sifted through music scores on his desk, searching for his newest one. Joey had requested it two weeks earlier while feverish and skittish; as if he were on drugs. This only increased Sammy's concern for his boss' condition. Yet he wrote the song, based on what he thought the lighter side of hell would sound like. Of course that was a strange score to write for the show, but it wasn't like the viewers knew what they were called.

Finally, he found his music sheet. He picked it up and headed out the door to his office. Sammy was in a hurry- he did not want to be late to this particular band rehearsal.

"Um, excuse me, Sammy?"

The ironically meek voice of Susie Campbell stopped him in his tracks. He turned to face her, eyeing her up and at the same time. Susie looked even more attractive up close than she did at a distance. He often kept track of her outfits for the week, to see if there was a pattern with what she wore. On Mondays and Wednesdays she wore this navy blue dress that seemed to be one size to small (she barely fit into it), coupled with a cardigan and sky blue flats. On Tuesdays and Thursdays she wore a black pencil skirt with a top of some random color (usually it was the lime green one). On Fridays she wore jeans and a dress shirt. Today was Thursday, which meant that she was wearing her black pencil skirt and her lime green top, with an equally lime green sweater. The skirt swayed when she walked. Sammy would watch her walk just so he could see it sway back and forth and back and forth.

"Sammy, do you hear me?"

He snapped out of his trance. "What did you say?"

She pursed her lips and sighed, as of annoyed. "I need to preview the next song you've written. I'm scheduled for a recording at 2 today, which means I've got to skip lunch just so I can go over it."

He nodded. "I'll get you those lyrics."

"Thanks, Sammy." She shut the door to her office after that.

He made a mental note to send Susie his newest song and continued down the hallway. The band was already playing when Sammy finally got there.

"It's about time," a voice spoke from up in the projection booth. Norman Polk.

"I know I'm late," Sammy explained in the most collected voice he could manage. "I had important business to take care of."

Norman scoffed as Sammy took his respective place at the conductor's stand, and began to play his newest song. His little conductor's wand directed his newest piece, _The Lighter Side Of Hell._ Conducting gave Sammy a rush that kept him coming back to work for Joey Drew. He felt that he had control over a group of people playing a range of instruments, to make a piece that he wrote come to life.

However, one drumbeat was off beat. Sammy felt the kiss of death on him once the drumbeat fell out of beat. Then it was the trumpets, the violins and eventually the entire piece was off beat. The director tried to keep up with the cacophonous chorus by waving his tiny stick about, hoping that his frantic, silent instructions would set them back in order. The more anxious he grew, the faster the piece went until eventually no one could keep up. The band lost all control of their instruments and stopped playing. Sammy groaned in frustration. He slapped down his conductor's wand and marched right out the door without saying a word. He couldn't be working under these conditions.

"I will quit this job, make no mistake."


	2. Chapter 2

Shaking with anger, Sammy marched down to his office. He snatched his newest song from his desk. Clutching them in his hands, he nearly tore the fragile sheet as he tried to remember why he had these lyric sheets in his hands. They were stupid lyrics- but of course, most of Sammy's songs were stupid- and not even a children's cartoon would want them. Yet somebody asked for these specific sheets. Who asked for these lyrics? He couldn't remember for the life of him, because his rage was not yet over.

Slamming the papers back down onto his desk, Sammy threw himself back in his crappy wooden chair and ran a hand over his face. He sat up, feeling pity and self-loathing, and yanked open the last drawer of his tiny, crappy desk. Inside was a case of beers that Sammy knew would destroy his reputation as music director and ruin the integrity of the company by which he was employed. He could already hear Joey lecturing him in his office should he be caught with the contraband stowed away in his desk.

He tried to pry off the bottle cap with his teeth, but failed. All it left him was pain in his (admittedly sensitive) teeth. Sammy resorted to using his keys as means of prying off the top, and succeeded. The pungency of alcohol had escaped Sammy's mind after many months of not breathing it in. He found the scent to be abhorrent, but still he forced it to his lips. The beer tasted vile in his mouth, but he knew it would allow him to cloud his judgement. Now he was determined to let his judgement be clouded. He was determined to remember what exactly these papers meant.

With more and more swallows of beer, his temper began to calm. His hands were no longer shaky. He was more confused than a foreigner in a different land, but no less decided that he would be able to remember to whom he was supposed to deliver the papers.

"Sammy." A knock came at the door.

He looked up- the vision, Susie Campbell, was standing at the door. His intoxication slurred his words as he asked her to come in. It hadn't even occurred to him that there was almost an entire case's worth of beer bottles sitting on and in the vicinity of his desk; right in Susie's line of sight. She approached the desk uneasily.

"Do you have those papers?"

Sammy looked down at the papers in his hands. "What papers?"

" _Those_ papers!"

"These," Sammy queried, then hiccuped. "You want these papers?"

"God, Sammy, are you drunk?!"

That made him giggle, and Sammy Lawrence would never giggle while sober. "Maybe. A little."

Susie snatched the papers from his hands and tucked them under her arm. "You're lucky I don't report you to Mr. Drew. You have a reputation to uphold!" She spoke through gritted teeth.

Sammy let out a long laugh and leaned back as far as he could in his chair.

Incredulous of his behavior, Susie crossed the room and closed the door to his office. She did so nice and slow as to not alarm anyone on the outside. "I can't believe you! First you make me skip two- not one, but two- lunches so I could go over these Alice Angel songs and then you get _drunk_?!"

"What," Sammy asked and downed the other half of his beer. "I'm just trying to loosen up."

She sighed in frustration and crashed on the chair in front of his desk. "What are we gonna do? Norman's waiting on us!"

"Let him wait," he declared and stood up. Susie watched as he crawled over his desk to sit on the edge of it, leaning forward to look at her more directly. He hiccuped again. "We have more important matters to discuss."

Susie was now shaking with anger as Sammy shot her a lazy wink. "I cannot believe you right now. You, Sammy Lawrence, have reached a new low."

"Maybe I have," he said, reaching out to drape his arms over her shoulders. The maneuver trapped her in a hug and their faces were now inches apart. Sammy was done with holding everything back. "but did you know that I am madly in love with you?"

Too scared to resist, Susie froze. She was too shocked to move at the mercy of someone whose judgement was cloudier than a room full of smokers. Her eyes moved everywhere in her limited range of vision except directly into Sammy's.

"Look at me, lover."

Susie obeyed him, hoping that he would see that she was in no mood for games. "Sammy, I am not your-"

He had kissed her. Sammy let all his emotion and liquid courage melt into the kiss as he leaned further and further into Susie. Susie, on the other hand, tried to push back with all her might. She was resisting the kiss as hard as she possibly could. However, she had the physical disadvantage. Sammy was much bigger and stronger than Susie, making her trapped in his "embrace". Eventually Sammy was sitting in her lap, kissing lips that would never return the favor. He did so for a while until he needed air.

Gasping, Susie collected herself and crossed the room to exit. "I won't report this to Mr. Drew," she wheezed, "but you've been warned."

Sammy laid on the floor, satisfied and eventually fell asleep. A nice hangover would greet him when he awoke.


	3. Chapter 3

A troubled Susie Campbell dashed back to her office as fast as she could in her flats. They chafed her feet severely, so she had filled them with tissue paper to make them more comfortable. It didn't work, and the thought sent her into tears. That, coupled with Sammy's erratic behavior, sent her into quiet sobs.

She slammed the door behind her when she reached the office. Collapsing in her chair, Susie laid her head down on the desk and began sobbing loudly. Unlike her studio, her office was not soundproofed. She was confident that other people could hear her. It didn't matter. Let them hear her cries, and maybe they'll ask what's wrong. She'll tell them that it's "problems at home" and "too much pressure right now". They'll hug her and tell her that it'll all be okay as long as she finds the motivation to carry on. The transaction will them be over and she will only be left feeling more sad that she lied to keep a secret.

Voices of doubt, insecurity and rage came whispering in Susie's ear. Her sobbing made them louder, until eventually those voices were screaming at the top of their lungs and belting out the worst and nastiest thoughts buried at the corners of Susie's mind. "Quit your stupid acting dream," one voice shouted. "Report Sammy for disorderly conduct," another cried. "You'll get away with it, you're a woman," a seemingly comforting voice whispered in her ear. "No harm, no foul." Her mind became a hub of activity as the voices began to argue with another.

"Shut up!" Her shouting silenced the voices. She slammed her head on the desk, adding to the massive headache she already had. Susie sat there for a long time, processing her pain. Finally, she lifted up her head, and she saw Norman standing in the doorway.

"I can hear your cryin' and screamin' all the way down the hall. Are you okay?"

She stared at Norman, face red with tear streaks and eyes puffy. "No, Norman. I'm not."

He crossed the room to give his friend a hug. Susie accepted the embrace.

"Does this have anything to do with Sammy Lawrence?"

"Everything to do with him."

"Tell me."

Susie explained everything to Norman. When she was finished, she stopped crying. She felt sane again now that she had explained everything. Norman sighed heavily.

"Susie, you can report 'im."

A heavy weight pulled her head down. She told Sammy that she wouldn't report him. Normally, she'd be great at keeping her promises. Susie Campbell never broke promises, no questions asked.

"I told him I wouldn't."

"Why?"

"Because it's the nice thing to do."

"Susie Campbell."

"I know. I have to report Sammy. But I really don't want to!"

Without a word, Norman picked up her desk phone and dialed a number.

"Hello? Yes, hi, Mrs. Keats. How are you today? Can you tell Mr. Drew that Susie's coming to his office in a little bit? Thanks, bye."

He gave her a smile and Susie stood up, albeit uncomfortably. She told him she'd be right back and to not move a muscle until she returned. Walking down the hallway, she glanced into Sammy's office for a brief second to find him on the ground, sleeping. Susie carried on, hoping that he would forgive her for this.

Joey's office was upstairs, so Susie had to go past Norman's office before climbing the stairs and into the top floor, where the animators worked. It was an absolute maze upstairs. To make matters worse, every office door was closed, and since they all looked the same, Joey's office was a needle in a haystack. It felt strange, just wandering around a floor of her work that she didn't venture to often.

She soon ran into the first sign of life in these blank hallways.

"Excuse me, uh..."

"Henry." He stuck out his hand.

She shook his hand. "Susie. I work downstairs. I'm looking for Mr. Drew's office?"

"I can show you the way."

Susie smiled. He seemed friendly enough, though kind of shy. It made her want to meet more people upstairs. She studied Henry as they walked together. He was quiet and collected; he didn't really seem like an animator. The tempest that was her overwhelming bouts of emotion seemed less severe with him around. Susie wasn't one to believe in auras or chakras, but she definitely believed that she was picking up a vibe of sorts from Henry. It was a slightly less guilt inducing way of telling herself that Henry was cute.

"Alright, this is Mr. Drew's office. Well, actually, this is the door to his secretary's office, which then leads you to Mr. Drew's office," he explained awkwardly.

"Thank you, Henry."

He nodded. "No problem."

Entering the office, she found Mrs. Keats- a tired woman if Susie ever saw one. She was nodding off at her desk, trying to keep herself awake by sipping desperately at an energy drink. It was clear that the desired effect was absent.

"Hi, Mrs. Keats?"

She sat up as straight as possible and attempted to hide her tiredness. "Yes, Ms. Campbell?"

"Norman called you and said I'd be coming down here, can I go ahead."

Mrs. Keats nodded off before picking her head up and pressing the button on her little microphone. "Mr. Drew, Susie Campbell is coming into your office now."

"Bring her in," a voice replied.

"Take a nap, honey," Susie said in her most sympathetic voice before walking into Joey's office.

Now that Susie thought about it, she wasn't sure if she'd previously met her boss since she'd been hired. Her interview was brief and it seemed like Joey didn't want to know much about her potential as a good Sillyvision employee. All he wanted was to hear her singing voice. That was her entire interview, just 20 minutes of her singing. He said she had a golden set of pipes and hired her.

Mr Drew was hunched over his desk, scribbling furiously on a piece of paper. At first she assumed he was writing something down. Yet judging by the ferocity of the scribbling, Mr. Drew appeared to be literally scraping his pen across a piece of paper, indenting into the desk as hard as he possibly could, like a child coloring in preschool.

"Excuse me, Mr. Drew?"

His eyes met hers. Joey was even more tired than his secretary outside- and she was probably fast asleep on her desk by now. Susie glanced in the room; judging by the amount of energy drinks and empty ink wells that were scattered across the ground, she estimated that he had not left this office in days.

"Yes, Ms. Campbell?" His voice sounded rusty from disuse.

"I have a, uh, complaint to file. It's about Sammy Lawrence."

He nodded, folding his hands. "What is it?"

"Well, I was going to his office to go over some songs with him-"

He waved his hand, with an irascible voice. "Get to the point, Ms. Campbell."

"Sammy is keeping alcohol in his office and getting drunk."

"Do you have evidence of that?"

Startled by the question, she began to trip over her words. "N-no, but..."

"Please don't waste my time, Ms. Campbell. I have a lot of work to do, and not much time to do it. I need you to get out of my office and go back to the music department, where you belong."

Susie stormed out of the office, past Mrs. Keats and finally back to the music department. Her first destination was Norman's projector booth. He was the first person she could talk to now.


	4. Chapter 4

When Sammy woke, he was still in his office. A pounding headache greeted him and he had barely any feeling in his appendages. He quickly gained recollection of his past memories, and Sammy scrambled to hide any evidence that he had been drinking. He had to do so quickly and efficiently, because it occurred to him that there was a large window into his office; anybody who happened to look in the direction of Sammy's office would see that he was in a panic. Attempting to act in a calm and orderly manner, Sammy placed his empty bottles in the bottom drawer of his desk, where he found them.

He walked to the door to his office, only to find that he couldn't get out; there was too much ink flooding his doorstep. The ink would ruin his new and expensive shoes. Sammy groaned and clutched the side of his head. There was still acute pain in his forehead, making him want to avoid all bright lights. At the same time, he was hungry for the greasiest substance he could find and wanted to spill out the contents of his stomach. Sammy crawled under his desk and turned off all the lights- though the huge window still brought light in from the outside. He hoped to sleep some more and let the effects of the hangover take their course, but it was clear that Sammy was done sleeping. His body was wide awake and though not feeling its best, functioning. That was usually good enough for him.

A few moments passed, and Sammy spilled the contents of his stomach out onto his new shoes. So much for not wanting them to get ruined. They weren't really expensive, though; Sammy bought them at the thrift store and transformed them with shoe polish.He sighed and curled up as comfortably as he could. Perhaps he could force himself to sleep.

"Mr. Lawrence, I've got to- whoa!"

Sammy looked to the source of the noise- Wally Franks. He should have recognized that (definitely fake) New York accent. If he weren't in the middle of the worst hangover he'd ever had, Sammy would probably be angry. Instead, he tried to act casual, as if he hadn't just crawled out from underneath his desk in order to avoid bright lights.

"What is it, Wally?"

"I was coming into your office to tell you that we can't get out! Then I step in your puddle here, and you've got the same problem!"

Sammy muttered something under his breath before finally speaking. "I can't get out of the office, Wally. You should clean it up. You are the janitor, after all."

Wally sucked in a breath, as if to bear bad news. "You see, boss, I would, but I kind of lost my keys."

"Again? Next time you lose your keys, it's a write up. But this time, just take mine." He grabbed the spare keys he kept for the janitor's closet and tossed them in Wally's direction. His generosity was definitely brought about by the intense pain.

Wally unlocked the janitor's closet, and pulled out every supply he had. Unfortunately, Sillyvision did not put too much thought into their janitorial equipment, and all the janitor was able to pull out of his closet was a mop and a bucket full of dirty, stagnant water.

"Sorry, boss," Wally called through the window in his obnoxiously loud voice, which made Sammy's headache worse. "It's not gonna be enough."

"I can see that, Wally. How about we get Joey on the phone, then?"

He made a saluting gesture with his hand. "Aye aye, captain!"

Wally marched off to go find a phone, while Sammy dug through his drawers for pain medication. This headache was enough to drive him insane. He found some interesting contents just sitting around in his desk- a stress ball shaped like a human heart, a slide whistle he took from a band member during a staff meeting, and a blank CD. That's when he finally found a bottle of pain medication. They were just a day away from their expiration date and Sammy was surprised to find his pain medication completely full. He took almost half the bottle before finally deciding that he couldn't swallow any more without some sort of liquid. By the time his search and retrieve was over, Wally had returned.

"Ok, so Mr. Drew is doing what he can. He says that he's gonna send some people from upstairs to fix the ink machine?" Wally said the final three words quietly, as if it was a taboo subject- which, at Sillyvision, it was. People knew about the ink machine and how Mr. Drew installed it for seemingly no reason. Nobody liked to go near it, not even the mechanics specifically hired to make sure it was in proper working order. Sammy nodded.

"Hmm. It seems that we always have to suffer for Joey's mistakes. Why is that?"

"I don't know, but the guy sure is weird. Whenever I'm upstairs, just sweeping up in his office, I see things. Weird things."

Though Sammy did not believe most of Wally's whimsical tales of things he found while sweeping up, he couldn't deny that he was intrigued. "Alright, I'll bite. What did you find?"

"Well, I don't really know what it was. I saw this huge book on his desk called 'The Illusion Of Living'. It was written by him!"

"Joey never mentioned writing a book to me," Sammy said to himself, suddenly feeling betrayed. "The Illusion Of Living?"

"Yessir, that's definitely what it was called. I lifted up the cover just a tiny bit to see what was inside, and all I saw were these scribbles all over the page. Like he was trying to cover something up."

While Wally could have just been playing a practical joke on Sammy because he was known for being gullible, Sammy knew he wasn't all that clever. Sammy would know if Wally was lying to him. He knew he wasn't. Now, Sammy was at a fork in the road. He knew his longtime friend and boss well; Joey wouldn't become secretive like this if he was planning something bigger. However, he did have to admit that Joey was a little eccentric. Sometimes he said things that didn't make any sense. He had these voices in his head that he would tell Sammy about. They all had different personalities and would often make Joey act as if he was bipolar. It definitely was not easy to be friends with Joey Drew.

"I'm gonna go see if the stairwell is cleared out," Wally said, trying to get away from the awkward silence Sammy created while in deep thought.

As the pain medication began to take its effect, Sammy began to rethink his relationship to Joey.


	5. Chapter 5

It was Henry who had helped Susie out of the inky stairwell that she was trapped at the bottom of. All the animators from upstairs were helping people cross the distance between upstairs and downstairs by means of throwing rope to serve as lifelines. Henry made sure he got to help Susie Campbell. Her flats were soaked with ink, along with the tissue paper that she used to insulate them. They made a squishing noise as she and Henry traveled down the hallway together, their hands barely touching.

"Thank you for getting me out of that ink pit."

"Ah, it was nothing. I was just doing my part."

"Gosh, are you always this modest?"

Henry became sheepish. "I prefer to call it not bragging, but I guess modest could fit it, too."

She chuckled. "You're funny, you know that?"

"I try."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Henry."

"Well, considering that it's about three in the morning because of our little incident, I'll see you in a few hours."

Susie smiled once again and pushed her way out the door. As the rest of the music department began to leave and make their exit, Henry went back to his desk. It sat in the dead end of a hallway. Being the perfectionist he was, he drawings of Bendy and Boris that he absolutely had to finish. He discovered that the projects he intended to finish were gone. They weren't underneath his desk, and Henry was organized- he didn't misplace them.

By the time that Henry discovered his missing drawings, he realized that he was gone. There was no one to ask where they went. However, Henry was not going to let go that easy. The idea of not knowing where his stolen drawings were would easily keep him awake in the few hours he was permitted to sleep before returning to work in five hours. He checked his main suspects; there was Olivia, another animator down the hall who was often rejected by Mr. Drew for not drawing Bendy's eyes in the right direction. It wasn't above her to steal off the desk of the best animator in the department. However, her desk was clean. There was also Tomas, an insecure electrical engineer brought in often to fix the lights that often broke. He admired Henry's drawings and nicked them off his desk all too often. Henry found little security to his art without an office; there wasn't much he could do, but Tomas always made sure to bring back the drawings. His final suspect was Mr. Drew himself. Joey often thought Henry's artistic abilities challenged all the others- this must have been why Henry was named head animator. 'You're gonna crush that Walt Disney someday,' Joey told him once. He often stole Henry's drawings for no reason. Sometimes he would give them back and other times they disappeared.

Henry's third suspect was the culprit. The drawings of Bendy and Boris dropping safes on one another were discovered on top of a book, titled The Illusion Of Living. Henry picked up his drawings and tucked them under his arm. Then, curiosity began to gnaw at him. He was tempted to open the book.

"I could get fired for this," Henry said aloud. "But it could explain why he stole my papers."

Henry opened the book. The first page was just a bunch of scribbles, but it seemed like there were words underneath. It really looked like Joey was trying to cover something up. He turned the next page to find drawings- Henry's drawings- of Bendy. There were nonsensical words- possibly Latin- written beside the little demon.

"What does that have to do with the illusion of living?"

More page turning revealed complete dioramas of what appeared to be demon summonings. Now Henry began to wonder if Joey was planning anything nefarious. Mr. Drew may have been eccentric, a little worrying at times, but not an ideal mastermind. He saw plans for the ink machine on another page, with small notes on the side, telling the reader to care for it at all times, make sure it has at least half a tank of ink to run on, and constantly leave it running. It was like a mother leaving a list of tasks for a babysitter to do with her child while she was out.

Henry decided to conclude his investigative work and get home before it was time for him to go back to work in a few hours. Lord knows he needed sleep. He made sure to close the book and disguise any evidence that he was there. Then, Henry was gone.

Only a few hours passed before everyone came back to the studio, tired and unready to seize their busy days. Henry and Susie walked in together. Sammy watched from close behind. He watched as they talked about the brief intercession they got to take between work days. Henry departed from Susie as soon as he caught sight of his desk, and that was when Sammy went in and took his spot.

"I figured you could use some company?"

Susie didn't speak to him, just made her way up further in the crowd. She spoke to several of their fellow music department workers- the new intern girl working for Norman, Sammy's main trombone player, his bassist, and even the guy in charge of making sure the microphone equipment worked properly. There was no denying that Susie Campbell was a social butterfly. Sammy, on the other hand, was far from it. That ineptitude was his cross to bear, and it was also part of the reason why he couldn't have Susie to himself. 'Another one bites the dust,' Sammy thought to himself as he unlocked the door to his office, noticing that he puddle of ink in front of it had not been cleaned up. Someone had to remind Joey to fire that incompetent janitor, who probably left when everyone else did and didn't even bother dealing with the mess.

Today, Sammy was supposed to work on more scores for his band. Joey didn't request them- thankfully- he just wrote them as background music to be played in order to set the pace of the episode. Just as Sammy sat down at his desk, he realized that he had yet another practice to go to. Additionally, he would be twenty minutes late if he didn't leave now. He scrambled to leave, but tripped and fell right on his face. It must have been the ink he stepped in. There was no time to deal with it, so Sammy pulled off his shoes and ran down the hall to the band room in his socks.

Once he arrived, he saw that the band room was entirely empty, except for Norman. He heard crying coming from the projection booth. It definitely wasn't Norman's voice. Sammy couldn't see who it was from the ground floor, but he had a feeling it was Susie.

"Norman," she said, confirming his suspicions. "I think I should be over it, right?"

"I don't know, Susie. You've just gotta avoid Sammy. That boy's up to no good workin' us all like dogs. It isn't fair that he's gone and treated you this way."

"And Mr. Drew says that I don't have any 'evidence'," she spat bitterly, making air quotes. "So I can't file a complaint."

"Don't worry about the boss now. He's crazy weird and probably half out of his mind when he turned you down. The man isn't fit to run a company."

"But he created Bendy, you know?"

"Anybody can put a demon on paper and call it art. Joey Drew isn't any special."

Sammy hid himself from sight and listened intently. It seems that his intoxicated self had a negative effect on Susie. His chances were decimated. The worst part was that he remembered it. Every single word he said and action he took. He remembered kissing her and the euphoric effect it left afterward. That kiss was something he'd fantasized about for months now. It was everything he imagined- her unwashed and coarse hair knotted between his fingers, the feeling of her breath on his lips, the sensation that told his body that it was so wrong, yet so right.

The music director couldn't deny it; he had practiced the kiss for just as many months as he had fantasized about it. While it was mainly pillows that he practiced on, Sammy would spend hours kissing things that matched the texture of human lips. He found that kissing his hand was the closest he was going to get. It would seem silly that a grown man would kiss his hand in order to prepare for the real thing, but Sammy took the process very seriously. Additionally, Sammy always made himself ready for the eventual kiss that the object of his obsession would give him at some point. He would always keep breath mints readily available on him and wear chapstick every day. Needless to say, he did not regret what he did with Susie. Yet, he couldn't stop listening to a conversation that was all about him. He caused this conversation. The thought made him smile.

"But Norman, I think I might have actually found a man."

"Oh? And what is the boy's name?"

"His name is Henry. He works upstairs. He's really nice, funny, really cute and helped me get to Joey's office the other day."

"Henry? I've never heard of him."

"We're gonna meet up tonight at this restaurant we both like. I'm really looking forward to it."

"Go have yourself a good time, child. But if this Henry gives you any trouble, you know where to find me."

Even though Sammy's chances with Susie were decimated, he still saw Henry as a rival. He had to crush his competition. Sammy liked to keep himself informed about his love interests, and would sometimes follow their routes after work to see where they liked to go. What other people would call stalking, he called staying in the know. He did this with Susie, and knew exactly where she would be going tonight. There was only one restaurant in town that Susie liked to venture to- the Chinese Express, a little Asian themed place across town.


	6. Chapter 6

Susie's dress collection was numbered yet varied. She owned about twelve dresses overall- and three of them were too small for her, two more were uncomfortable, and one more she wore to work. This allowed seven dresses for her to wear on this date. Seven dresses she wasn't even sure she wore or knew existed before this occasion. Seven dresses, and one would be the lucky one to impress Henry. The first of her seven belonged to her mother- already a turn off. She didn't want to seem older. The next two were too faded and out of season. Yet the third one was her pick. She didn't need to go through the other ones; this one was obviously the best choice. It was a satin purple with a white, useless bow to be tied around the center; Susie removed the bow as soon as she put on the dress. The solid color was good enough for her. This, coupled with her excruciating shoes, saw her fit to go on a date.

She arrived a little later than anticipated. Henry was already inside. He was still wearing his work clothes- which barely passed for business casual with jeans and a shirt that made an attempt to look formal. It disappointed Susie a little to know that he did not make an effort to impress her when she deliberated over a dress for more time than normal. She felt too formal in this setting.

"Hey," Henry said in his normal, awkward voice. He stood up as soon as she entered, which indicated that he had manners, even if his attire said otherwise. This made Susie feel better.

"Hi, Henry. Not a busy night, huh?" She sounded overly enthusiastic in her greeting. A knot tied in her stomach. This was not going to go well.

"Uh, yeah. I only just got here maybe 30 minutes ago, and you would have thought I came in when the place was closed."

"Is anybody else even here?"

"If they are, they must be invisible. No one's been here."

She laughed, albeit too loudly. He tried to laugh, but honestly his joke was not all that funny. It was clear that Susie didn't feel natural, and he acknowledged that. Henry had to nip the bud of nervousness or have yet another woman to avoid at work.

"Does this make you nervous? This whole setting here?"

Susie sighed. "Yes. I'm not gonna lie. "

"Can we maybe get out of here? I don't think we're gonna get service anyway."

"Yeah. That sounds good."

Henry and Susie left, passing the parked car of Sammy Lawrence along the way. He watched the two of them, paying the most attention to Henry. In Sammy's eyes, Henry was disgusting. He wasn't even trying to impress Susie with those clothes- they were the same ones he'd wore to work! But Susie, she was trying. Her in that purple dress, Sammy just knew that she was trying. Appearances were very important to Susie, especially her own. Anybody with an inclination to read body language could tell that she had insecurities. Sammy had convinced himself that he could make Susie feel appreciated. He knew that Henry wouldn't suffice.

Sammy was on their trail as they walked around town, just traipsing. They walked a little too close together. He didn't know what what they were talking about, but it seemed to entertain them both, because they were rather animated in their conversation.

The subject matter was little sisters. It was something they both had in common. Henry was recalling the time that he and his little sister jumped from their steep roof and onto their tiny, crappy trampoline. They emerged with broken legs, but they had fun.

"Wow, it seems like you were quite the daredevil."

"Who wasn't as a kid? You probably did dumb stuff with your sister as a kid."

"Well, there was this one thing."

"Oh, now I see. It was only once, huh?"

"Yes, only once. I was maybe seven years old, she was five. We went on vacation to this really nice hotel in somewhere I don't remember. There was a pond in the hotel with a ton of koi in it. She really, really wanted to get a better look at the 'fishies', as she called them. Anyway, we snuck out of our room the first night and took a dive."

Henry laughed. "Wow, really? That's dedication!"

"Yeah. We got in a lot of trouble. But, we did get to see those fish up close."

"You know, this one time, my sister got a fish from the store. You know, the ones that die in two weeks and come in the bags. She found it weird that we named our cat Whiskers, so she named the fish Scales to prove her point."

"My sister did something similar. She always told me that she'd name her child Leg since we named our cat Paws. It seems they're a lot alike. What was your sister's name?"

"Polly. What about yours?"

Susie put her hand over her mouth. "My sister had a best friend named Polly. Her name was Norma."

"I guess this is the part where I say that Polly had a best friend named Norma. Because she did."

"Looks like we have a connection. How did we not know each other before this?" Henry seemed a little more excited than normal about this new discovery.

"Well, Norma never wanted Polly to come over because she didn't want Polly to know that she was adopted. She thought that if she came over, she'd see that the rest of us didn't look like Norma."

"Yeah, I remember her complaining about that. But just imagine what would have been if we'd seen each other then."

Susie and Henry sat down at a bus stop. Sammy, who was still following them, parked a couple miles away as to not look suspicious.

A bus came, and Henry got on. He agreed to go on another date with Susie next week. Susie had to walk all the way back to the Chinese place just to get to her car. Sammy found this as the opportune time to accidentally bump into her.

"Hello, Susie," Sammy said in his most casual voice.

"Hi, Sammy."

"I see you were out and about in the town with someone."

"He has a name."

"What is it, then?"

"I'd tell you, but you already know, don't you? You're not subtle, Sammy. You never have been. I know you saw us talking this morning. I also saw you outside the Chinese Express!"

With that, she stormed off past Sammy, making her way alone in the dark. 'Just playing hard to get,' he told himself as he went off the other direction.


	7. Chapter 7

Joey Drew returned on Monday, outraged. He found those drawings that he nicked from Henry's desk had been nicked back. The only logical explanation was that Henry took them back, meaning that he came into his office without permission. He needed those pictures of Bendy and Boris, otherwise the gods would be angry with him. Joey had an inkling that they enjoyed it when he brought Henry's drawings of Bendy and Boris. Perhaps they appreciated the interpretation of their creations.

There was only one way to get those drawings- steal them back. So, of course, an irascible Joey stormed past his ever-sleeping secretary. He turned the hall, down to Henry's desk.

"You stole the drawings, didn't you," he barked.

"Technically, I took back what you stole from me," Henry said without missing a beat, not even looking up to face him. He was prepared for this confrontation.

"Well, you should damn well consider bringing them back to me. I need them."

"What for, Joey? You know that I need them for the storyboard pitch this week. I'm head of that meeting."

"I just need them! Can't you just redraw new ones?"

"Um, no way. Not this close to the deadline. I'd have to redo everything, and I do mean everything."

Joey sighed in frustration. "I can fire you, you know."

"Yeah, but you won't. Who are you gonna make head animator if I'm gone? Olivia?"

Again, Joey sighed. Henry had some valid points, and it was boldness like that that allowed him to keep his job. He would have to settle for another animator's drawings. Ironically, the creator of Bendy himself, the founder of Sillyvision, couldn't draw his own creation. No doubts, Joey was fantastic at drawing. Most of his family could tell you that he was artistically inclined and had a knack for artistry. Yet, Bendy was an accident. He was a fluke that Joey couldn't recreate, no matter how hard he tried. Henry, on the other hand, was like a copy machine- he could master and remaster Bendy's design. Henry had no idea, but Joey was dependent on him to keep his business running.

When Joey didn't reply, Henry ended the conversation with a simple "that's what I thought" and returned to working.

Henry's mind was wandering. Nobody else may have seen it in his performance at work, but Henry definitely saw the slope in performance. He drew Alice Angel with more emphasis than normal. He spent more time drawing her. It wasn't just that, either. A drawing that would normally take three hours to complete would now take five hours to complete. His mind would be focused on that task at hand, sharp as a bed of oysters and then suddenly, he found himself in the depths of a daydream. It involved a certain voice actress from downstairs and that date they agreed on next week. He was surprised he didn't somehow ruin the date- in fact, he did just the opposite.

Susie's mind was wandering as well. Today she had several Alice Angel songs to record- it was Norman's job to bring her the sheet music from Sammy's office- and she often found herself not being able to remember the lyrics. It was coming to her slowly, little by little. She often found herself singing the same line over and over. She constantly had to refocus on her task at hand, and eventually got the song she had to record completed.

"I know that look," Norman told her once she was finished recording. "That, Susie Campbell, is the look of a smitten kitten!"

"Henry's a great guy," Susie gushed. "We didn't stay at the restaurant, because it just wasn't the right setting to get to know each other. We ended up walking around town and talking most of the night. And it gets better."

"What?"

"Our sisters were best friends!"

"What a coincidence. Fate must've allowed that to happen so the two of you could meet up. When's your next date?"

"Sometime next week. Henry's supposed to call me and tell me when he wants to meet up."

"And you're sure he hasn't given you trouble?"

"No, not Henry, but, uh, there was this incident after Henry left."

Norman sighed. He had a feeling that he knew what she was about to say. "What was it?"

Susie glanced around her, and over the projection booth and didn't see Sammy. She leaned in closer and spoke in a more quiet tone. "Sammy came to see me."

Norman was right. "The nerve of that child. What did you do?"

"I told him off and got to my car as fast as possible."

"Y'know, I could go over there and, uh, rough him up some. Give him a good talking to."

"I can handle myself, Norman. But I thank you for offering."

"Just a courtesy. Go on now. I've got the band comin' in in about five minutes."

Susie left, and found that a voicemail had been left for her on her office phone. That was a rare occurrence. She played it, and heard the voice of Joey Drew telling her, along with the rest of the company, that there was going to be a staff meeting in 30 minutes. Susie had been working at this company for a year and had never once attended a staff meeting- not one that involved the entire company. Up until recently, she had hardly gone upstairs or spoken to Mr. Drew. The music department and the animation department were only joined by the show that they both worked on; Sammy would go upstairs and provide Joey with all the voice acting tapes and musical scores needed to overlay the animation for the next episode. Wally was the janitor, so he got to work on all the floors. That was pretty much their only link.

Susie went upstairs early, hoping that she could see Henry before going into the staff meeting.


	8. Chapter 8

Wally scoffed as they exited the break room, which is where Joey held the staff meeting. Joey said this company was going to change; he had insane demands that he actually expected people to met. First, he put pedestals in the break rooms, which several employees had to contribute an offering to appease the gods. Second, he expected that all the animators follow Henry's design of Bendy. Doing this would make everyone's drawing process slower, which meant that the show's animations wouldn't get done on time. The television executives already hated the show; falling behind on their limited time slot was a death sentence in and of itself.

As he reported to a mess in the music department, Sammy pulled him aside.

"You and I both attended that staff meeting. We both heard what Joey said."

"Yeah, he said things were going to change around here. Why?"

"Do you think," he paused, looking around to make sure that no one was listening in on the conversation, "it has something to do with that book?"

Wally shrugged. "I don't know, man."

Sammy sighed. "We need to get to the bottom of this, Wally. It could be just about the most important thing you've ever done in your life."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, thanks for the drama. What do you suggest we even do about this?"

"We break into his office," Sammy said with a little too much enthusiasm.

Wally raised his eyebrows. "You sure about that? We could lose our jobs over somethin' like that."

"Yeah, but aren't you curious to see what's in that book?"

"Uh-huh..."

"Great, meet me outside the studio at 10:00."

"Pal, my shift ends at 10:00. I could just let you in when I'm locking up."

"Even better! Do that at 10:00."

They shook hands and sealed the deal. The intern girl working for Norman rushed up behind Wally, and directed him to the mess that he was supposed to clean up.

Susie nor Henry had eaten all day. When lunch finally came around, they went to the site of their first date and ate the biggest meals they could stomach. This was entirely new to Henry- eating out with someone who actually wanted to talk to him, not just someone who only went to eat with him so they could talk about their problems. It was also a relief to not eat with Joey, who asked him out to lunch constantly. Joey wouldn't shut up when they ate out together. Susie, however, was an actual conversationalist. She would let him talk.

"I went into Joey's office the other day."

"...okay? Why is this news?"

"I went in when everyone was gone."

"Oh. Now it gets interesting."

"So...I didn't really know who to tell, but I can't keep this knowledge to myself."

They leaned in closer to keep their conversation more private.

"I found this book, Susie. He calls it the 'Illusion of Living', and it's full of weirdness."

"Well, let's be honest here, Henry. Mr. Drew is kind of weird."

Henry shook his head. "I mean, demonic worship type stuff. Summoning things, witchcraft, etc. There's something big going down here, and I want to get to the bottom of it. I say we go in and get the book."

"As in steal it?"

Henry nodded. "What do you think?"

Susie leaned back in her seat for a moment and paused. Then she smiled. "I say we do it," she said as they both got up to leave.

The end of the day could have not come faster. Mrs. Keats leaned in the doorway of Joey's office.

"I'm going home," she announced to him with a great yawn.

"Yes, and please sleep, Mrs. Keats. Lord knows you need your beauty rest."

"Flattery gets you nowhere in life, Joey Drew."

She walked out the door, and Joey immediately shut the door behind him. Joey had the overbearing suspicion that someone was coming for his book, that someone at Sillyvision could have known about the plans he hadn't told another living soul He lifted "The Illusion of Living" from his desk and found a secure place to hide it- in a safe, behind the large picture frame that stuck out like a sore thumb on the wall.The picture itself was a portrait of Joey with Bendy and Boris; a photoshoot that was done as soon as the show became popular. He would have loved to say that he was proud of it, but his inability to draw Bendy made that challenging.

"That should do it," Joey muttered to himself.

While the CEO was lost in the labryinth that was his own mind, he accidentally tripped and fell over Wally's mop bucket. Joey wasn't angry, he was seething.

"Wally Franks, you better have a damn good reason for tripping me with this mop bucket!"

Wally peeked his head around the break room door, where he had been sweeping around the newly added pillars. He shook his head and fought the urge to laugh.

"I'm afraid I don't have one, sir."

"Well, that's not a good enough excuse! Just don't do it again! You're lucky I don't fire you."

Joey stormed off, leaving Wally in disbelief of his boss.

"People don't realize how much they need me around here," Wally said to himself, rolling his mop bucket down the hall. "If I'm threatened one more time by some ungrateful employee around here, I'm outta here!"

He checked his watch. The time was 9:45 in the evening. 'Sammy better be here soon,' he said.

Sammy's lack of punctuality had not failed Wally. He was there, at the back door, wearing a black coat buttoned up to his nose and a fedora pulled over the brim of his eyes. Wally couldn't believe he was going on a serious investigation with someone like Sammy.

"What kind of getup are you wearing there?"

"I'm incognito."

"Yeah, you look ridiculous. Let's go. Joey's pissed at me already."

Sammy began to unbutton his coat as he walked alongside a hunched over Wally. He seemed to have a great deal on his mind, judging from his look- and Sammy was no good at reading people.

"Is something on your mind?"

Wally scoffed. "What isn't on my mind is the better question."

Sammy hadn't expected such a forward answer. He didn't know if to keep asking questions or leave the answer as vague as it was. Yet something just slipped out of his mouth.

"What's bothering you?"

The janitor glanced at Sammy for a brief moment before putting his head back toward the ground, eyes fixated on nothing in particular. A long and drawn out sigh escaped him before he threw his head back, now facing the ceiling.

"I'm not so sure you'd get it, the things I'm thinkin' about."

"I won't know unless you tell me."

"God, I've already said too much. Can we get back to the task?"

"Sure, but as long as you promise to tell me later."

"Yeah."

Sammy and Wally walked in silence after that. Wally led the way, of course, because he actually knew where Joey's office was located. Once they got inside, crossing Mrs. Keats' office, they realized they were not alone. At the same time, Susie and Henry realized that they'd been caught.


End file.
